May 16th, 2007 by Charles Jefferies
Form Factor Comparison
Form Factor Comparison
For ease of comparison, the summary table below lists all of the standard internal hard disk form factors with their dimensions, typical platter sizes found in hard disks that use the form factor, and common applications:
|
Form Factor |
Profile |
Platter Size (in) |
Width (in) |
Depth (in) |
Height (in) |
Application |
|
5.25" |
Full-Height |
5.12 |
5.75 |
8.0 |
3.25 |
All drives in early 1980s; Large capacity drives with many platters as late as the mid-1990s |
|
Half-Height |
5.12 |
5.75 |
8.0 |
1.63 |
Early 1980s through early 1990s |
|
|
Low-Profile |
5.12 |
5.75 |
8.0 |
1.0 |
Quantum Bigfoot, mid-to-late 1990s |
|
|
Ultra-Low-Profile |
5.12 |
5.75 |
8.0 |
0.75 - 0.80 |
Quantum Bigfoot, mid-to-late 1990s |
|
|
3.5" |
Half-Height |
2.5, 3.0, 3.74 |
4.0 |
5.75 |
1.63 |
High-end, high-capacity drives |
|
Low-Profile |
2.5, 3.0, 3.74 |
4.0 |
5.75 |
1.0 |
Industry standard, most common form factor for PC hard disks |
|
|
2.5" |
||||||
|
12.5 mm Height |
2.5 |
2.75 |
3.94 |
0.49 |
Highest-capacity 2.5" drives; not commonly used in notebooks due to drive height restrictions. |
|
|
9.5 mm Height |
2.5 |
2.75 |
3.94 |
0.37 |
9.5mm is by far the most common drive height. |
Next: External Hard Disks
